Many gaming machines in existence at present include both a primary game, which may be a spinning reel game, and a secondary game that is a feature game. Typically the feature game is able to be played only occasionally and often provides the opportunity for winning a substantial prize. Gaming machines having a feature game have experienced widespread success in attracting and retaining players.
Games incorporating a spinning wheel or representation of a spinning wheel are often very effective at providing an enjoyable gaming experience for a player. This may be due to the simplicity of a spinning wheel combined with its visual impact.
Known wheel features are a game of chance in which a player may participate which is in addition to a primary fame of a gaming machine. The game of chance involves the display of a number of segments that together form a circular shape, and a selector to select one or more of the areas so as to indicate an outcome of the same of chance. Feature games of this type will be referred to herein as “wheel features”.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,823,874 and 5,848,932 both to Adams describe a secondary payout indicator in the form of a rotatable bonus wheel which can be caused to spin automatically or in response to some action by a player, when the primary game indicates one of a predetermined plurality of indicia.
A major disadvantage of wheel features is the limitation on the size of the prize segments caused by the limited area that a representation of a wheel can occupy. There are therefore, a limited number of prizes that can be displayed effectively on the wheel without taking away from the look and feel of the wheel, and therefore taking away one of the advantages of a wheel feature, by making it cluttered and/or by malting it difficult to read the prize values.
Australian patent number 711501 describes providing an electronic wheel where the odds of landing on any given indicium are determined by the number of integers in the first range of integers mapped to the indica, where the number of integers in the first range may be different from the number of indicia on the simulated wheel. This patent also describes changing, replacing or otherwise modifying indicia on a simulated wheel so that, even though it may be desired to provide only n indicium locations on the simulated wheel, the simulated wheel may be provided with m possible indicia by “swapping” new indicia onto the wheel during simulated spinning. The patent further describes having a wheel that provides the potential for winning a large or jackpot prize, but which can only provide such a win if the player has previously achieved a predefined result on a previous spin of another wheel, with the previous wheel not needing to provide an opportunity for a jackpot win.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,612,575 describes a gaming machine having a game with a bonus feature where a player places a wager, spins a plurality of first reels having indicia thereon, determining if indicia displayed by the plurality of first reels associated with a first pay line comprises a predetermined winning combination, and if so, paying a first award and the associating that first award with at least one bonus reel, permitting a player to spin the at least one bonus reel or otherwise participate in the bonus event, and determining if an award associated with the at least one bonus reel is associated with a second pay line, and if so, paying a bonus award.
Regulations for some markets, including most Australian markets, requires that the odds for wheels (and other typical casino devices) when used in a gaming machine must reflect the expected odds of that device. Weightings similar to those sometimes used on reel strips of spinning reel gaming machine games, for example using a spinning reel game of the type described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,419 (Telnaes) are not allowed to be applied to wheels. This makes it more difficult to offer large prizes on a wheel without reducing or eliminating the advantages of a wheel feature, because the larger the prize, the more effect it will have on the overall return to the player of the game. Accordingly, to support a large prize, either the chances of the player activating the wheel feature have to be very low or the amount of the average wager of the player needs to be high.
The methods described in the Australian patent number 711501 are said to address the desire of providing a wheel feature that permits relatively small wagers but provides a potential for relatively large prizes. Some of the methods may not comply with the regulations for some markets. In addition, a disadvantage of having a wheel that provides the potential for winning a large or jackpot prize, which can only provide such a win if the player has previously achieved a predefined result on a previous spin of another wheel, is that the large prize can not be displayed directly on the wheel. The player may therefore not have the feeling that he or she can win the large prize with just one spin of the wheel.
Any reference in this specification to the prior art does not constitute, not should it be considered, an admission that such prior art was widely known or forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia, or in any other jurisdiction, before the priority fate of any of the appended claims.
Throughout this specification the term “comprise” and variations on this term including “comprising” and “comprises” are to be understood to imply the inclusion of a feature, integer, step or element, and not to exclude other features, integers, steps or elements.